Organizing Pots and Pans in a Corner Cabinet

Do you have a corner cabinet lazy susan in your house?  These spinning contraptions make great use of dead space that seems to exist in most kitchens, but from the bendy door to the awkward pie-shaped shelves, it’s a bit of a mystery how best to organize the space.

I’ve never had much of a plan for actually organizing the space.  I followed more of a “toss it in and slam the door” method.  But in my recent quest to maximize and organize every inch of my small kitchen, I decided to take it on.  

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And boy am I glad I took the time to rethink this space.  By adding a few specific organizational items I was able to hugely increase the function of this corner.  No longer are my pots and pans scattered haphazardly or my lids awkwardly piled up.  It actually makes me giddy to open up the cabinet and easily slide out the pan I need for scrambled eggs.

Use a tower to stack your nonstick pans without scratching

For years we have stacked our frying pans, in two uneven, tippy stacks in this cabinet.  Anytime we needed a specific pan we would have to move all the other pans just to get to the one we wanted.  While this was fine for our stainless steel, I noticed all the stacking and moving was scratching up our non-stack pans.  Turns out you aren’t supposed to stack non-stick pans because it can chip the coating.  Not good!  

Since I actually have quite a few frying pans, I purchased two white towers and placed them on the bottom rotating shelf.  Placed at an angle, they fill the space nicely and even my largest, deepest frying pans fit nicely without overhanging the shelf.  

frying pan rack

Each rack fits 4 frying pans and creates a very clear, defined space for pans.  Since there was only room for 8 pans, I needed to reduce my collection of pans to 8.  But you know what? I’m OK with that! 

Having self-imposed number limits prevent mindless accumulation.  It’s a great trick for keeping belongings in check – provide a defined space or number and don’t allow yourself to go over.  

But don’t be afraid to stack stainless steel pots and colanders on your lazy susan

Even though I went away from stacking my frying pans, I did decide to continue stacking my colanders and my pots.  In my case, they are made of stainless steel, so I wasn’t as concerned about scratches. I found that I was able to nest them together smallest to largest in a tidy stack.

The spinning shelf makes it easy to grab what I need.  Grouping by type (colanders with colanders, pots with pots) makes it easy to quickly find what I’m looking for.  There was even space at the back to store my large stockpot. 

Turn large pot lids around to save space in your corner cabinet

Large pan lids not fitting?  Or awkward to store?  Try turning them upside down on top of the pan.  This places the knob or handle inside the pan, instead of sticking up awkwardly.  For my largest pot, this was the only way it would fit in the cabinet.  As a bonus, it keeps the lid with the pot which makes it easy to find when you need it.  

Use an organizer for small to medium-sized lids

Want to know my absolute favorite Dollar Tree organizing product?  This $1 white metal organizer is incredibly multipurpose and so cheap, you won’t feel guilty buying one (or four!)

I found that it’s just the right size for organizing small to medium-sized lids.  It stores the lids vertically and makes it easy to grab what you need.  No more digging through slippery piles of lids! 

Look for this lid organizer at your local Dollar Tree, but if you can’t find one there, here’s a similar lid organizer from Amazon.

Purge what you don’t use

Please remember to actually go through your pots and pans before attempting to organize them.  It’s not worth your time to organize clutter.  The only way to do this is to take everything out of the cabinet and actually LOOK at what you have.  Assess each pan by asking the following questions:

1. Do I use this pan?
2. Is it in good shape? Or is the non-stick coating scratched and old?
3. Do I have duplicates of the same size pot or pan?

Keep only the best of the best and donate the rest.

I noticed I had a duplicate set of small/large nonstick frying pans.  It seems that when I purchased a new set last year, I forgot to actually get rid of the old, scratched set.  So remember, if you buy a new set, get rid of the old set! Don’t keep both!

frying pan rack

In conclusion, a corner cabinet lazy susan doesn’t need to be a dumping ground.  The space is perfect for storing pots and pans and with a few simple additions, it can be an organized space that is a joy to use.  

Do you want to see this in action?  Check out my 30-second video of this space:

@smallishhome

Organizing a corner cabinet with pots and pans! #kitchenorganization #kitchenstorage #homeorganization #organizing #organizingtips #potsandpans

♬ Right Round – Flo Rida

Looking for more kitchen organization?  Click the links below to see how I organize my:

Mugs

Food Storage Containers

Baking pans

And be sure to follow me on Instagram @smallishhome for more small home organization tips and tricks!

Happy organizing!